


i used to live alone before i knew you.

by commonemergency



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: B99 Fall 2019 Fic Exchange, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Nostalgia, Sharing Clothes, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 01:04:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commonemergency/pseuds/commonemergency
Summary: They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actuallyliketo be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him.(or, Jake and Amy, some polish food and hot cider.)





	i used to live alone before i knew you.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WinnieTherPooh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinnieTherPooh/gifts).

> hello [@winnietherpooh](https://winnietherpooh.tumblr.com/) i meant to have this out a couple days ago but now it's just a halloween surprise! i tried to get all your prompts, this was so much fun to write, i hope you like it. <3

It’s always the start of October that he feels it. He doesn’t know what it is—the leaves are starting to change colour, New York City is starting to get colder, and it’s starting to get darker. Stores have started putting up Halloween decorations in the windows, there’s new lattes to try and even better sweet treats to eat. It’s his favourite time of year. 

(Except, sometimes, when it’s actually Halloween, he’ll be working on a scene and he’ll see the numerous amounts of people with their children in costumes, and he’ll think of the last few Halloweens that he could remember with his father. It doesn’t always get to him, but Amy and Jake have been trying for a kid, and it’s just getting harder and harder to ignore the memories he’s desperately trying to heal from.) 

Jake and Charles had been working on a scene for a few hours now, he always hated doing door to door, but it had to be done. The faster they went through it the faster Jake could go home. He had plans. 

(Most of his plans were spending time with Amy on the couch, her stroking his hair while he rested his head in her lap watching house hunters and making bets on the couples.) 

“I just love this time of year,” Charles says as he touches his pen to a pumpkin head that’s been taped to the door. By the looks of it a kid must have drawn on little doodles. It makes Jake smile despite how tired he was tonight. 

“I know Charles,” Jake pats his back and they knock on the door. 

A woman answers with a child on her hip, funnily enough he’s wearing an orange shirt. Jake has to remember that there’s so many people that love Halloween for a completely reason that he loves Halloween. He smiles at the baby who’s holding a sippy cup in his hands.

“Hi, we just have a couple of questions,” Charles starts out and he’s squinting his eyes in a gooey way with a big smile that only Charles does towards babies. The baby of course is enthralled with Charles and smiles and giggles. 

_Damnit that’s cute_, Jake thinks, before taking over the questions. 

A couple doors later, they’ve done what they could for the night. It’s not quite dark yet but the sun has gone down and the sky is tinted with pink and orange clouds. 

Charles drives them back to the precinct. He talks about Nikolaj and how excited he is to take him trick or treating. Jake just smiles, his best friend loves his kid. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but Jake hopes to be just as overwhelming when he’s a father someday. 

He texts Amy that he’s on his way back to the precinct. She had today off, she told him that she had plans on cleaning the apartment and running errands because they ran out of groceries. Most of their conversations today had been asking Jake what he wanted groceries wise since he out of the two of them made the meals given Amy’s track record. He looks back on their conversations and one of Amy’s replies saying, _If you make another eggplant dick joke I will hit you with it and it won’t be pretty._

Jake had replied: _babe that’s so hot. i’d love to get hit from a dicklike eggplant if it’s from you._

She stopped texting him after that. 

*

When they get to the precinct Amy is waiting for him at her old desk across from him. She’s got one of Jake’s hoodies and jacket with a scarf that Karen had knitted for her last year with matching mittens. It’s not nearly as cold but she always needed to keep warm. 

He thinks of the last time that she was sitting across from him at her old desk. It had made something inside of him flutter knowing that she was downstairs now. He smiles at her, she looks up from her phone and smiles at him. 

“I didn’t know you were here.” Jake said, walking over to her and placing a hand on her arm. 

She reaches out and cups his cheek. “I thought I would surprise you. I finished my to do list early.”

Jake laughs, “_That_ doesn’t surprise me.”

Jake doesn’t realise that Charles is just standing there with a big grin. Amy gives Charles a look and he walks quickly and quietly to his desk, and it’s only then that Jake leans in to give Amy a quick peck on the lips. 

She sits back down while Jake finishes up paperwork. 

It takes him longer than he expected, but Amy is patient, she tells him about her day as he quickly types and he throws in a couple of sentences here and there. They co-exist in a way that he’s never felt with another person, and he knows that they’ve been together long enough but sometimes it just gets him that this was the person that he chose to love. He feels that flutter again, looking up at her, sitting where she used to sit and remembering how different they were back then. 

And when he’s done she puts one mitten in her pocket and holds her hand out for him to take. 

“Goodnight Charles,” Jake says over his shoulder. 

“Goodnight Jakey. Have a good evening with Amy.” Charles says with a happy sigh. 

Jake shakes his head with a small smile. 

*

Jake and Amy used to have this tradition that every Friday they would try a new restaurant in their burrow courtesy of Charles’ blog. They would never tell him that they went there, but it had become something that Jake looked forward to. It was Friday, and Jake had been swamped at work and they hadn’t discussed where they wanted to go and it was too late now. 

“Soooo,” Jake says, “how do you feel about polish food and house hunters?” 

He gives her a second to think about it before adding quickly, “I know that we try something new every Friday but I’m kind of tired and just want to spend the rest of the evening alone with you.” His voice drops at the end, vulnerability was something that he was still working on after all these years of being together. 

She just gives him a look that he knows all too well, but it still makes him feel warm every time she does it, and it’s normally followed by her reaching out to his cheek, her thumb caressing the side of his face with a warm smile that was only for him. 

She nods, “I would like that.” 

They walk to Amy’s car and he gets in the passenger seat putting his work bag in the back. Taylor swift blares through the speakers and he knows that it’s the mix CD that he made for her just because. 

The drive is quiet, the volume is turned down low, he looks outside the window at all the shops they pass by and he listens to Amy humming song lyrics.

And then, he thinks, _I am the luckiest person alive._

“I saw a really cute baby today.” Jake says after a while. 

“I did too.” Amy dives in about the little boy who was helping push the cart with his mommy and the cute outfit he was wearing knowing that Jake would appreciate it because it had Star Wars on the front. 

It used to scare him, thinking of his future child. It used to scare him because he didn’t know if he’d be a good dad, but then he looks at Amy, and he sees how her face lights up talking about the little boy and his mom and it just dissolves all of the fears away. He reaches out to take her hand, warming it up with his own. 

“Our baby is going to be so cool.” Jake just says with a simple shrug. 

That’s all there is too it. Their baby is gonna have two parents who love them and support them and be there for them unconditionally. 

“The coolest.” Amy agrees with a smile. 

*

It doesn’t take long for them to find parking, Jake reaches his hand out for her to take and they start walking to the polish place that Amy loves so much. When they first started dating it was like their place to go when they didn’t want to go too far and the owners knew them by now.

They order their food quickly and sit at one of the tables while they wait. They’re holding hands across the table and Amy is going on about her busy day tomorrow and how her mother is already planning Thanksgiving. And Jake just listens, he listens because it’s his favourite thing to do. Jake was loud in a lot of ways, he had something to say about everything, but if there was something that could shut his brain up, shut all his intrusive thoughts and doubts, it was Amy. He watches the way she uses her free hand to talk, and he thinks of how different they are now. 

It was one of their first cases together as partners when Amy had took him to this place, it was only once, but they had been working for forty-eight hours on the case with little to no sleep and coffee was no longer strong enough, Jake thinks that he might have only eaten food that came from the vending machine and whatever Amy gave him out of pity. When they finally got a break in the case they didn’t know how to celebrate because it was too late to go to a bar. So, Amy took him to the next best place which was this exact polish place, and she ordered her usual. 

This was when they didn’t know a lot of things about each other, Amy was looking at him like she was determining whether this was a good idea or not. Jake, in the middle of eating their food, had grabbed his hot chocolate and raised it in the air like he was about to give a toast before eventually he said, “We did good, Santiago.” Then he paused for a moment, “We make a really good team.” 

He had forgotten that memory until they started dating, but that’s what he thinks about, staring at Amy again. His thumb caresses her hand. The bell rings, letting them know that their order is ready. 

Amy smiles, jumping up from her seat and walks over to grab the bag. 

“I’m so excited.” Amy says. 

Jake laughs. It’s hard not to, her happiness is infectious. 

*

Their routine goes like this: change into pajamas, Jake gets the plates out, Amy starts to scoop the food from the boxes onto the plate, Jake reheats the food while Amy turns the television on and finds their channel, Jake gets the tv trays out and sets them up while Amy goes back to the kitchen to grab the plates. They revolve around each other, like they’re doing a dance that they know so well. 

When dinner is finished, Jake grabs the plates and does the dishes while Amy puts the leftovers away. She grabs two mugs out of their cabinet and places them on the counter while reaching for a packet of something in their tea cabinet. Jake is almost done with the plates and he turns around to see what Amy is up to. He can still hear the television but it’s low. 

He peeks at what she’s doing, turning the kettle that Amy recently bought on. She holds up the pack of hot cider and waves it in Jake’s face. 

“Figured we could drink something festive for a change tonight.” She says with a small smile.

Jake grabs one of the packets and opens it up just so he can sniff the cider goodness. 

“My grandma used to always make me hot apple cider in the winter time. She always preferred it over hot chocolate. I wasn’t picky. Sugar is sugar.” Jake jokes with a shrug, wrapping his arms around Amy and resting his chin on her shoulder while she pours the hot water. 

Amy smells like him and like home. He supposes there isn’t much of a difference. He presses a small kiss to her shoulder, letting her go to grab spoons for them to stir the powder. 

Jake thinks of how when they have kids they can have their own traditions. Maybe their kids will prefer hot cider over hot chocolate—either way, he thinks, their kids will come home to a warm house, with a warm drink waiting for them, and endless amount of hugs and ears ready to listen about their day. 

They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actually _like_ to be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him. 

He thinks of how far they’ve come and how Amy had become his person. 

He doesn’t tell her this, he doesn’t think that he needs to, she just _knows_. 

Amy turns to him now and giving him a small smile before she brings the mug that Jake bought her for Christmas last year up to her lips and turns back to their show and she laughs. One day, they’ll have their family, one day this space will belong to more people than just them, but right now, he thinks of just how happy he is to be able to come home to Amy everyday. It’s love and it’s warmth, and it’s everything Jake needs.

**Author's Note:**

> comments/kudos appreciated!
> 
> you can find me on tumblr: [@lesbianperaltas](https://lesbianperaltas.tumblr.com/)  
[reblog](https://lesbianperaltas.tumblr.com/post/188733596598/i-used-to-live-alone-before-i-knew-you) on tumblr if ya want.


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